Tis The Season For The End Of Year Bargains

I don’t stress during the holidays anymore. About a decade ago, I started participating in year round buying for those Christmas gifts and I start working on my cards in early November. So I’m usually ahead of schedule and all I have to do is cook for my kids who come home and go drink some eggnog at holiday parties!

But the buying season for 2017 starts now. Here are ways to save money now that can pay off later, if you can set aside some funds to take advantage of these super deals.

Outlet Malls – I’ve told my adult children that there are real outlet malls and pseudo outlets. The best ones were reviewed by Consumer Reports and the chains that received the highest scores take into consideration value, quality, selection and customer service. These chain stores that are highest rank include Cartr’s, BonWorth, L.L. Bean and Haggar. If you can shop on Dec 26th, then you’ll get an even greater bargain. Go to Premium Outlets or Tanger Outlets online to find the best location nearest you and to see what kind of after Christmas specials you can expect.

Clothing – The day after Christmas is better than Black Friday (when you can expect 40% off) when it comes to clothing deals especially in the area of jackets, sweaters and robes (as much as 70% off.) Look online to see when the stores open as some are offering Black Friday type hours so people can come in and shop til they drop.

Last Minute Bundles – There is still time to get bundle deals this time of year. For example, a free case and flash drive for your tablet or laptop or a free gift card or extra games with your gaming system. Go to Amazon to comparison shop bundle deals and while you are there, look for “Today’s Deals” tab to check out daily specials. Target is stepping up the game this year when it comes to bundling and you can always find an extensive list of codes for other deals as well as sales at RetailMeNot.

Donations – How can the timing on a donation make a difference? If you were going to make a holiday donation and believe you’ll have enough in donations to itemize in 2016, then go ahead and make that donation to make a difference in someone else’s life in a significant way. But if you weren’t as generous as you would have liked and you won’t be able to itemize, then wait until Jan 1st, 2017 to make that donation so that you can make it a goal to donate enough in 2017 in order to itemize.

Be sure to consider donating to Heroes at Home and all the fine work we are doing in teaching our military members financial literacy.

What are your favorite end of the year savings tips? Let me hear from you!